The soft glow of Pavit Dhillon’s TV illuminates her face. It plays a YouTube mix of Bollywood music as she sits on her bed, carefully scrolling through Pinterest, selecting images for her next TikTok.
“She was written by Sanjay Leela Bhansali”, a dreamy montage of the beauty-filled Bhansali films, with girls in vibrant saris, beautiful landscapes, and lush greenery. A TikTok Brown girl will not only understand, but also one that was made for Brown girls.
As the video takes shape, it becomes more than just an edit. It’s a love letter to her culture, a reminder that South Asian beauty and tradition belong in the soft, dreamy world of digital aesthetics too. Something that Dhillon has always longed to see.
Dhillon, an aspiring content creator, grew up consuming social media content that often overlooked girls like her. “Growing up, I didn’t really see trends including girls like me on stuff like YouTube, Vine, and Instagram.”
Now that narrative is shifting. Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have provided a crucial space for South Asian women to craft their own representations, celebrating their culture without conforming to rigid stereotypes.
For years, South Asian women have felt rarely represented by mainstream media. While South Asian men have seen their on-screen representation grow to roughly 2.3 percent, South Asian women remain significantly underrepresented. Despite the success of stars like Mindy Kaling, Lilly Singh, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan—the latter two being from the Greater Toronto Area—the onscreen presence of South Asian women remains strikingly low at just 0.3 percent.
“There really weren’t any South Asian women in the spotlight when I was growing up, and that can make a little girl feel insecure, you know? The standard of beauty was so different, it was hard to feel beautiful, seen, or like I mattered,” said Mila Yali, a popular South Asian beauty and lifestyle creator on TikTok.
This representation, although growing, still feels like a drop in the ocean. It’s part of what motivates Dhillon and many others like her to create content that centers their identity.
“Seeing more South Asian women in the influencer space has helped me feel less intimidated in business settings, and it showed me that if others were sharing and living their lives, then I could too,” said Neeti Sharma, a South Asian TikTok creator. “There was a lot less representation when I was young, but now with TikTok, there is so much more representation and information.”
This sisterhood among “brown girl” content creators dates back to 2019, when influencer Sanjana Nagesh founded the BrownGirlGang, an Instagram page dedicated to producing content for and by brown girls.
The platform swiftly gained a following of over 170 thousand, becoming a hub for South Asian women seeking representation, community, and inspiration. What started as a passion project evolved into a movement, proving that there was a demand for content that uplifted and celebrated brown girls in all their diversity.
“When I was starting out, there were barely any South Asian women in the influencer space, and it honestly felt a bit odd, like I didn’t fully belong,” said Yali. “But now, seeing so many South Asian women thriving in this space feels really nice.”
But the journey can feel isolating at times, as many South Asian creators also face the pressure of societal expectations. Navigating a delicate balance between being “too brown” or “not brown enough,” said Dhillon.
“Sometimes it feels like we can’t just exist as creators, we always have to justify why we’re making the content we make,” Dhillon explains. “If I post something about my culture, I get praised for it. But if I just want to do a simple fashion or makeup video, people question ‘Why is a brown girl doing this? Your parents must be embarrassed.’ I just want to create what I enjoy without having to fit into a mold.”
Criticism within their own community is often just as loud as the praise. “Specifically, a lot of South Asian women get backlash from their community for sharing their lives or just being too ‘out there’, but seeing others do it reassured me that I could too,” said Sharma.
The societal expectations regarding brown women also weigh heavily on the minds of many of these creators. “I never thought of this as a career,” said Dhillon. “I wasn’t raised to consider this as a possible career.”
“There are some times when my family doesn’t like what I share or post,” said Sharma. “If I’m being honest, most of my content is aligned with my values. I think as long as you have a strong value system, you can navigate this.”
The boundaries that South Asian creators walk are often delicate, balancing cultural pride and personal expression with familial expectations and community scrutiny. But despite these challenges, creators like Dhillon, Sharma, and Yali continue to carve out space for themselves and others, proving that visibility is both powerful and necessary.
“My family’s not super supportive of my content creation,” said Yali. “It’s definitely something I still struggle with. I wish I had more support, but I remind myself this is what I love and what’s working for me.”
And it works for many other South Asian creators just like her. Women who are finding purpose and power in carving out their own spaces online. These are spaces that young South Asian women can look to for connection and representation.
Dhillon’s debut video, titled “Her Heart Belongs to Punjab,” is a beautiful compilation of dreamy photos designed to encapsulate the essence of being a Punjabi woman. The visuals are a seamless blend, transitioning between shots of golden mustard fields, intricately embroidered phulkari dupattas, and bustling street markets, with every clip intentionally chosen. “I want my videos to feel like a memory,” Dhillon explains. “Even for girls like me, who grew up in Canada and maybe haven’t been to Punjab often or at all, it’s about that feeling of home that still exists in us.”
As more South Asian women enter the influencer and digital creator space, the kind of content that once felt niche is now helping shape mainstream aesthetics. Romanticizing your heritage, once seen as “too ethnic” or “too traditional,” has become a powerful creative statement.
For Sharma, that shift is what makes this moment in digital culture so important. “I was inspired by watching other creators like Lily Singh and Hemali Mistry post their lives and connect with their audience,” she said. “People who are growing up now have a lot of other South Asian women they can look up to and learn from.”
“I started this because I felt like I needed to show up for our community,” said Dhillon. “And maybe that could influence other girls to start posting and feel like they have a community.”
And that sense of community is exactly what’s pushing this movement forward, a collective of women who are not just seen but celebrated.
For Yali, this group of creators is a constant source of inspiration for her own content creation. “I’m proud to be part of a growing community that’s breaking barriers and redefining beauty and success on our own terms,” she said. “All the girls that I’ve become friends with, in this space. I’ve come to really enjoy their content, and I’m constantly inspired by them.”
Whether it’s through aesthetic edits, makeup tutorials, or personal vlogs, South Asian women are making digital spaces their own. They’re challenging what beauty looks like, what success sounds like, and what creativity can be.
“I want to inspire other young women,” said Sharma. “That’s why I became an influencer in the first place.”
“You never saw a brown girl as the lead in anything when I was growing up. It almost felt like we were meant to stay in the shadows like we weren’t supposed to take up space,” said Yali. “Now South Asian women are everywhere, leading campaigns, starring in shows, and absolutely dominating the content game.”
That shift has already started to take shape. From trending sound clips featuring South Asian songs to the sudden rise of South Asian makeup trends such as the “Asoka Trend” and fashion aesthetics, the influence of South Asian women is rippling through the mainstream in ways that once felt unimaginable.
“The beauty standard did a full 180; suddenly, everyone wants our hair, our skin, our spice tolerance. It’s like, remember when we weren’t even on the radar? Now we are the radar. We went from background extras to plot twists,” said Yali.
But for creators like Dhillon, it’s not about going viral. It’s about building something that lasts.
“I want us to have that sense of community. Like we still have our cultural background with us here,” she said.
As platforms evolve and audiences grow, one thing remains clear: the rise of South Asian women in digital media isn’t a fleeting trend; it’s a long-overdue movement.
“We’re just getting started,” said Yali. It’s empowering, a little overdue, and honestly? It feels good to finally be seen, not just as the sidekick or the background character, but as the main event.”